Epic Summer Getaways to Take With Your Friends

There’s no purer travel pleasure than turning off the highway with several solid vacation days stretching before you, a jackpot destination on the horizon and a few of your best mates at your side. And the vast back roads of America hardly want for non-beaten paths to explore. Follow our lead to these lesser-known locales where adventure collides with creature comforts.

Hot springs that bubble right up from the earth, cool dips in a lake sculpted by glaciers, and small-town charm are all on tap when you drive two hours north of Boise to McCall, an idyllic Idaho mountain town on the southern shore of Payette Lake. The drive is impossibly scenic from start to finish, skirting the edge of the Payette River and some of Idaho’s finest whitewater rafting rapids. If you hit just one of the area’s many hot springs, make it Burgdorf Hot Springs, a circa 19th-century miners’ oasis where you and your crew can soak up views of the Salmon River Mountains in natural pools with pebbly bottoms that pump forth 130 gallons of balmy water per minute. In the town of McCall, the highlights include sipping craft brews at the Salmon River Brewery or dining on wild Idaho salmon with lake views at the inimitable Shore Lodge.

Rob Hammer

Tomales Bay, California

The beaten coastal path out of San Francisco heads south for Monterrey and Big Sur. But for something unexpected, turn the wheel north instead for Marin County’s wild and wind-swept Point Reyes National Seashore and the oyster-lover’s haven of Tomales Bay. After a hike or horseback adventure in the park, home to 80 miles of protected beaches, make for the town of Marshall on the east side of the bay and an unforgettable seafood spot, The Marshall Store. Here, the singular pleasure is slurping fresh oysters—likely harvested from the bay that same day—at outdoor picnic tables overlooking the water, a chilled bottle of Sancerre within reach. Nick’s Cove, down the road, has historic cottages for rent right at the water’s edge where can you continue toasting the California good life.

divpThis landscape includes the very tip of Moosehead lake.

mountinez

Moosehead Lake, Maine

Coastal Maine has its charms—not to mention its crowds, particularly during the busy summer season. And if your crew likes to get away in the great outdoors in the comfort of a lakeside lodge or cabin, Moosehead Lake in the Maine Highlands region makes for a quieter summertime escape. The 40-mile-long lake is the largest in the state and a prime place for hooking lake trout and salmon. And the surrounding woods and mountains offer endless hiking. The Appalachian Trail passes southeast of the town of Greenville, on the south end of the lake, and that’s a good place to base your entourage for such activities as seaplane excursions and scouting for the lake’s eponymous residents during moose-watching tours.

divpVerkeerder Kill Falls in Minnewaska State Park - Shawangunk Mountains - New York

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New Paltz, New York

Only about 80 miles north of Manhattan, this bucolic college town in the Hudson Valley might as well be lightyears removed. Opt for an iconic stay at the clifftop Mohonk Mountain House—a National Historic Landmark and legendary spa hotel overlooking a glacial lake—or find a cabin to rent near one of the area’s abundant waterfalls. Just west of New Paltz, a drive through Minnewaska State Park and the Shawangunk Mountains (which locals lovingly call ‘The Gunks’) poses nonstop options for hiking, surprise swimming holes, and more lovely waterfalls to explore.

divpGrand Marias

NickJKelly

North Shore of Lake Superior, Minnesota

About four hours north of Minneapolis, the Sawtooth Mountains meet the North Shore of Lake Superior in a fairytale setting where artsy, little towns line rugged shorelines steeped in shipwreck lore. About 40 miles from the Canadian border, Grand Marais has a gorgeous little harbor that begs you to sit with something frosty while watching bobbing boats. It’s a short drive from town to remote Lake Superior beaches and wooded areas loaded with wild berries during the warm summer months. And near the Scandinavian-inspired lakefront town of Lutsen, to the south, you can stay in a cliff-top lodge or cabins and go for tastings at one of the country’s northernmost vineyards and cideries at the new North Shore Winery and Sawtooth Mountain Cidery House.